Gorillaz Return After Six Years With Apocalyptic New Video For ‘Hallelujah Money’ On Inauguration Eve

Maybe it takes a band based on virtual characters to remind us of the important, precious nature of our humanity — because that’s exactly what the Gorillaz new song “Hallelujah Money” does. On the eve of America’s inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump, a candidate who has stirred a remarkable amount of protest to say the least, Gorillaz’ new video interrogates the relationship between power, corruption and compassion in the wake of this undeniably historical moment.

Co-founders Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have been working on a return to the world stage with the band, and a new Gorillaz album is on the horizon, but today’s release “Hallelujah Money,” which features Benjamin Clementine, is a timely precursor to that record, which comes later in the year. It’s a musical statement to capture a moment in time, to question the impact of Trump’s inauguration and to mourn the prioritization of power and greed in our current world. Still, it’s the first new music from the band in six years, since the release of their 2011 record The Fall.

If there was ever a time for a call to interrogate the prevalence of prejudice and corruption, it is now, and the new Gorillaz track uses vivid apocalyptic and allegoric imagery to comment on the situation — and goes further with chilling, twisted lyrics such as “love is the root of all evil.” It is both a commentary on America and the rest of the world.

Their first album was fantastic, Laika Come Home was fucking stunning, and 911 is one of the best songs recorded about that event… but it’s been a rapid slide down since that day and whatever the hell I just listened to is complete crap and doesn’t even have the novelty of what the Gorillaz were at one time.

Not quite understanding the hate, it was a bit over the top with the message but the song was mesmerizing and not the norm, which is what I expect from Albarn. Song’s not even on the album and Albarn himself has a damn good track record.

It’s a pretty condescending and douchey statement to say “if you don’t like it, you must not get it.” But here it’s pretty apt. The people hating on it seem to miss the point entirely. It’s supposed to sound grating, disjointed, and chaotic. It is a musical black mirror on our current state of affairs. Not saying anyone has to like it, but most criticism is comparing it to their earlier works, when it is a one-off, non-album message more than a Catchy Song they seem to expect.